Williamson owns and operates a number of oceanographic winches. These include the 12,000 to 10,000m (40,000 ft) of 0.681" armored coaxial cable bearing Dynacon 421 and B1 systems, capable of supporting the Williamson WA-30 Legacy and AMS-60 deep-tow systems in water depths as great as 6,000m (18,000').

Williamson also operates mid-sized oceanographic winches for supporting sonar operations in water depths up to 2,000m (6,000'). The SOSI MTW-5042L-30 and Crossline 50020-FL can be spooled with either 0.45" or 0.681" cable for geophysical or geotechnical surveys.

Our team has a wealth of experience in mobilizing and configuring winch systems including cable lubrication systems, tensiometers, cable counters and instrumented sheaves to provide the support sonar and other surveys require.

Our winches are also available for rent, and Williamson's policy is to provide skilled operators from our pool of engineering talent. Please contact info@wassoc.com for details!

The Dynacon 421 is a deep water oceanographic winch, with a capacity for 12,000m of 0.681" double-armored coaxial or fiber optic cable. The system is supplied with a separate HPU. Past projects include deep-tow of sidescan sonar and synthetic apperture sonar on a wide variety of vessels from the North Pacific to the Bismarck Sea.

The B1 is a deep water oceanographic winch, with a capacity for up to 10,000m of 0.681" double-armored coaxial or fiber optic cable. The system includes an inbuilt HPU. The B1 has been deployed on sonar and towing tasks from the Gulf of Mexico to the Persian Gulf including deployment on the successful AHS Centaur wreck search.

The SOSI MTW-5042L-30 is a smaller, medium depth system with a capacity for 3,000m of 0.68" cable. The system includes an inbult HPU and has been deployed on CPT jobs, and on sidescan sonar projects on both coasts of the USA in 2015. The SOSI has the capacity to tow to the typical limits of cable-route geophysical survey with sidescan, magnetometer or sub-bottom profiler equipment.

The Crossline 50020-FL is a medium depth system with a capacity for 6,000m of 0.45" cable. The system includes an inbuilt HPU and has been deployed around the world, typically for cable route surveys. The Crossline has the capacity to tow to the typical limits of cable-route geophysical survey with sidescan, magnetometer or sub-bottom profiler equipment.

The Bulldog Model 123851 is a deep water capable sampling system fitted with 7,000 m of near-neutrally buoyant 12-strand plasma line. The rope has a parting strain of approximately 17,500 lbs and has been used to good effect on deep water mineral sampling projects. The system includes a separate HPU and is best suited to deploying dredges, geotechnical equipment or instrument packages.

The Kohlstrand 1000 is a shallow water system with a capacity for 1,000m of 0.45" cable. It is optimized for towing geophysical instruments in up to approximately 300m of water and can be readily mobilized to a vessel of opportunity. An independent gasoline powered HPU is provided with the system removing any need to source vessel power. The Kohlstrand has provided good service with smaller towed sidescan sonars around the USA.